The Mariners just sent out a release stating that outfielder Franklin Gutierrez -- brought back on a one-year deal which he signed in mid-December -- has "suffered a relapse of many of the symptoms he struggled with last spring, and does not believe it is fair to the team to come to camp if he is unable to compete due to health reasons".

The Mariners have placed Gutierrez on the restricted list, removing him from the 40-man roster. That move subsequently opened up the needed spot to officially add reliever Fernando Rodney to the team. Just a week before his 31st birthday, Gutierrez has only played in 173 games for Seattle over the past three years, hitting just .238/.276/.363 in that time. That followed up his successful seasons of 2009 and 2010 when he hit .264/.321/.394 while playing in 153 and 152 games, respectively, and winning a Gold Glove for Seattle.

The M's now have seven outfielders on the 40-man roster and only Stefen Romero out of that group doesn't have experience in center field. Still, this would seem to indicate that there could be some more free agent acquisitions in the future for Seattle as Gutierrez was one of the few right-handed hitters that figured to see significant playing time in 2014 for them.